Saturday marked the toughest battle of the season so far for the University of Wisconsin Badgers (2-5, 0-4 Big Ten), as they faced off against the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten), falling in a 34-0 loss, the second-straight shutout loss this season.
For the third game in a row, redshirt senior quarterback Hunter Simmons stood under center — despite Coach Luke Fickell saying the team “should’ve went in the other direction [with Danny O’Neil]” following the 37-0 loss against Iowa.
“This isn’t an easy game, and it’s sure as hell not easy when you’re trying to figure out who your quarterback is and you’re bouncing back and forth,” Fickell said postgame.
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The biggest challenge for the Badgers coming into Saturday’s matchup was containing sophomore receiver Jeremiah Smith. Last season Smith caught for 1,315 yards for 15 touchdowns, becoming the first Buckeye freshman to catch for over 1,000 yards in Ohio State history.
However, throughout the game for the Buckeyes, it was junior receiver Carnell Tate that wreaked havoc for the Badgers. Buckeye quarterback Julian Sayin also threw the ball with perfect precision, completing eight straight passes on the opening drive, including a 33-yard touchdown pass to Tate between two Badger defenders.
By the end of the contest, it was clear that the Badgers were not able to contain the receiver duo, as Smith caught nine passes for 97 yards and Tate caught six for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
In what seemed to be a repeat of the Iowa game, Simmons’ drives were short-lived.
The Southern Illinois transfer completed a bullet pass to redshirt sophomore tight end Jackson McGohan for 15 yards to start the second drive. However, on the next play, he threw a pass to redshirt junior Cade Yacamelli, who tipped the ball into the air into the arms of the Ohio State defense, resulting in Simmons’ fourth interception in just as many games.
Similarly again to the Iowa game, the Buckeyes piled on points early. Following the interception, Ohio State kicked a 38-yard field goal and Tate nabbed his second receiving touchdown to give the Buckeyes a 17-0 lead heading into halftime.
The only saving grace for the Badgers in the first half — a missed 38-yard field goal right before halftime. Ohio State dominated the stats across the board — 235 passing yards to Wisconsin’s 49, and the Buckeyes went 2-for-5 on third-down to the Badgers’ 1-of-6.
The third quarter started slow, with Ohio State taking six minutes to kick a 37-yard field goal. But, to wind down the third quarter, fans in the student sections took to a new trend — taking their shirts off and waving them around in jubilation.
The noise in the stands did not match the production on the field, as the Badgers gave up another touchdown to fall into a 27-0 hole.
But, the noise returned as redshirt freshman and backup punter Sean West surprised everyone with a fake punt on fourth-and-19, picking up 20 yards for the fourth-down conversion.
“I just caught the snap, figured I had some time to look up,” West said postgame. “Ended up putting up a couple moves on some guys and getting a first down, that was a sweet moment.”
Unfortunately for the now-shirtless student section, the drive would fizzle out, and Sayin would pile on his fourth touchdown pass, this time to junior receiver Brandon Inniss to draw the lead out to 34.
To end the game, Sayin went 36-for-42 for 393 yards and four touchdowns, making him the first quarterback in the Big Ten this season to complete 100+ passes as well as putting him third in passing yards with 1,093.
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The Badger linebackers, junior Christian Alliegro and freshman Cooper Catalano shone brightest for Wisconsin in the matchup. Alliegro finished with six tackles, two for loss, while Catalano led the team with eight tackles and a tackle for loss.
After the game, Fickell disclosed that Alliegro broke his arm in the first quarter, and following a check by the medical staff, put on a temporary cast and played the rest of the game.
“He [Alliegro] cares, he’s not gonna let his brothers down,” Fickell said.
Sophomore quarterback Danny O’Neil would see action late to close out the game, but he only completed one pass for negative five yards, leaving the Badgers with their first back-to-back shutout loss since the 1977 season.
That season the Badgers started 5-0, climbing all the way up to No. 14 in the rankings before losing six straight games to end the season, including a 42-0 loss at No. 3 Ohio State and a 22-0 loss to Purdue the following week.
Back to 2025, the Badgers now sit last in the Big Ten, tied with Michigan State and Purdue at 0-4. In conference play, the Badgers also rank last in points per game with five, passing yards per game with 135.8, second last in passing touchdowns with one and rank second-most in interceptions with six.
“There’s no quit in me, and the most important thing is there’s no quit on each other in that locker room,” Fickell said. “Whatever’s gonna happen is gonna happen, but that doesn’t change what we have to do.”
Coming up next, the Badgers travel to Eugene, Oregon to face off against the No. 8 Oregon Ducks (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten). The Badgers are 3-4 all-time against Oregon, losing 16-13 in heartbreaking fashion last season. The last win over Oregon dates back to 2000, when Michael Bennett ran for 290 yards on the way to a 27-23 win.